


Ensam Går Jag

by Elleth



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Naked Cuddling, Page 781, Possibly Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 06:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12029685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elleth/pseuds/Elleth
Summary: Emil finds shelter for himself and Lalli. (Inspired by the chapter 17 cover.)





	Ensam Går Jag

**Author's Note:**

  * For [helia7](https://archiveofourown.org/users/helia7/gifts).



The door finally gave. 

Emil was past caring if the house could hide a troll, or several. Knowing his luck it probably did, but if he had a choice between freezing to death slowly and getting eaten quickly, he'd take his chances getting eaten. 

Maybe he'd be lucky. When was he ever?

Emil laughed and almost doubled over coughing on the threshold, hacking up another mouthful of brackish water; only his grip on Lalli in his hold tightened reflexively, as it'd done when a wave capsized the ice floe, and he'd kicked at the water until his feet hit bottom and he'd wiped his hair out of his eyes to stare at the neat row of houses by the shore. 

_Think, Emil. What did they teach you in field survival?_

The thoughts were as slippery as his grip on the wet ice had been. 

Fire. They'd need a fire. And to - to - get out of the soaked clothes. Warmth. Body heat. 

He stumbled into the house, dragging Lalli with him. 

*

Emil's hands wouldn't move right; he'd had to peel his gloves off with his teeth. His fingers were stiff and white and hurt, and he was fighting down tears when they shook too much to open up the waterproof match container, and then match after match broke before he even managed to light it. Lalli lay as dead weight across his lap, not even shivering, and Emil wasn't sure if he was still breathing at all. Like Tuu - _no_. He shouldn't be thinking of her. Lalli wasn't dead - but some of the broken matches had dropped onto his chest, and shouldn't they be slipping if he breathed? 

_Crack._

Another match splintered under his fingers. Three left. 

The next finally kindled, a tiny spot of heat in his palm. The tears came in earnest when it took to the spongy wood from a fallen beam in the hall that Emil had managed to break down enough to fit in the fireplace in pieces. It'd brought a slab of ceiling crashing down, but at least no troll had come running at the noise. 

Warmth bloomed across his face as the flames grew. Emil slowly turned his hands by the fire until the pain receded into prickling and blood flowed back in until they were stark pink. A warm glow also lay across Lalli's cheeks. He looked better that way, less dead, and in the flickering light Emil couldn't be sure, but perhaps Lalli's lips were moving a little, half open for a shallow breath and then another.

Emil wiped his knuckles over his eyes. He'd manage to stop shivering. Lalli would wake up. It'd be okay. 

*

"Euuugh, how do you even manage to put these on?" Lalli's second boot slid free with a smacking sound, joining the heap of gloves, boots and Emil's own gear already on the floor. The rest of his clothing was easy now that Emil's hands could move again - collar, hood, tunic, shirt, undershirt, pants. His fingers hesitated at the waistband of Lalli's underpants, but they were as soaked as everything else. And, well - Emil had seen him naked at decontamination dozens of times. 

This really wasn't too different. 

He'd never before been about to wrap around Lalli's skinny, clammy body, but if Lalli woke and had a problem with it, Emil figured he'd be too happy about Lalli waking up to care about much, if anything, else. 

And Lalli would be happy to be safe, wouldn't he? After that… whatever it had been. 

_Magic_. After that magic. If Lalli hadn't stolen one of Emil's explosives and managed to kill the giant that way. Emil wanted to believe he had, but he'd counted the charges in his bandolier, and they were all still there. 

Lalli had jumped in front of him and done magic. 

Emil snorted, an ugly and derisive sound - and he'd thought, he'd had the gall to ask, all the way back in Mora… 

Like an idiot. 

Best not to think about that any longer. Lalli had magic. Emil still couldn't believe or explain it, but he'd seen it, and once Lalli woke up...

Oh. This wouldn't do, once Lalli woke up. Emil's fingers were still resting on the cusp of Lalli's hip. Emil looked away and pulled the last stitch of clothing off Lalli, tossed it away, and wrapped his arms around Lalli. One of his legs slid in between Lalli's, and Emil cradled Lalli's back against his chest; Lalli's head came lolling against Emil's shoulder. Then he wrapped a moth-eaten, mouldy-smelling blanket that he'd found on the sofa around them both. 

He couldn't help a slow, careful breath when it was done, his fingers tangled through Lalli's, crossed over his chest, holding the loose, wiry limbs in place. Any other time, and this… something like this, in a nicer house, in Mora, with Lalli awake and no giants hunting them and almost drowning… would be close to perfect. 

He'd settle for calling this perfect if Lalli woke up. 

"Come on now," Emil said; his breath ruffling Lalli's flyaway hair that'd already begun to dry. "Come on, wake up. It's okay with me if you want to rest up, as long as you're coming back around in the morning. I'll just… I'll keep watch. You sleep. If you don't mind… you don't need to say anything else." 

Emil laughed, but he knew that if anyone listened, it'd probably sound like tears, again. 

Instead, because anything was better than silence - or tears - when night settled fully around them and the snow kept falling, and Emil was still trying to rub warmth back into Lalli's hands, he began to sing. 

_"Ensam går jag här och vankar,  
Söker efter vännen min_

_Se, jag möter honom här,  
Han, som är min hjärtans kär…"_

**Author's Note:**

> The song Emil is singing apparently is a traditional Swedish one. The full lyrics and translation I got from [here](http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1295), and there's a melody [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofWS50D9RwY).
> 
> For Helia, whom I promised an Emilalli fic in return for her fantastic Sigrun (who is now keeping guard on my bookshelf)! ♥

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Rising to the Surface](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12030318) by [Kiraly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/pseuds/Kiraly)




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